The Stats

Today Savannah had her 18 month check up with Dr. Baker. I have to say that her doctor appointments are bitter sweet for me. I spend weeks before counting down the days until we can go and get all of my questions answered. However, it's also SO hard holding her down to get shots. Thankfully, we were one day early today and that kept her from having to get an additional shot . . . we only got two instead of three today. I have to tell you how thankful I am for Dave, a dad who takes off from work and drives all the way across town just to be there for Savannah's appointment. It means SO much to me for him to be there!!

The appointment went well, excluding a minor scare that we might have to get a CT scan because her head was measuring too big. The nurse came in and remeasured and said that it was fine. Whew. She's up to 35 inches tall (I can't believe she's almost 3 feet tall!), 33 pounds, and 50 cm head circumference . .. all still well above the 97th percentile. At least we're consistent with being off the charts. Dr. Baker was very patient and assured me that she would eventually start eating things other than chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What a relief to know that I'm not doing permanent damage by feeding her the same two things for over four months!! He also said that we needed to let her cry it out at night, even if she does throw up. So, sorry Savannah, no more books at 3am!!

Here are just two cute pictures of her helping clean before leaving for our appointment. I had to laugh when one of the questions on the checklist at the doctor's office was "Does your child mimic what you do?" Oh yeah, we've got that one down!

She's 18 Months Old Already?!

This past week we have experienced being parents to what seems like a completely different child. Now that the rash is cleared up, she is truly starting to settle into a good schedule. It seems as if she's getting enough sleep too as our nights no longer consist of a screaming baby, but a dancing toddler. That's right, a dancing toddler. She seems to have moves (or lack of them) like her daddy, but that doesn't stop her from spinning in circles anytime we play some music around the house. After much time spent trying to get the video uploaded onto the blog, I've finally given up . .. so sorry you can't see our little dancer perform her newest moves.

Seriously though, what a relief to know that it does get better. I can hardly believe she turned 18 months old yesterday. Though hard at times, Savannah truly has blessed our little family more than I ever imagined possible.

Another Day . . .

I just couldn't resist sharing this cute picture of Savannah standing on the base of our kitchen table. After so much tutoring and lots of little hands, we sent our white table top out to be refinished. So, this is what we have in our kitchen for a few days . . . a base just calling for a toddler to climb all over it.

As for health news, we were ALL almost well and now Savannah has some nasty diaper rash going on. Thankfully, the doctor called in some speciality diaper rash cream that the pharmacy has to compound so hopefully this will do the trick! She is SO much happier now, even with less sleep so that makes me one happy mama!! We had Dave's Christmas party last night and were a little skeptical about leaving her with someone that would have to put her to bed, but Miss. Chelle had the magic touch and Savannah went to bed without even a cry!!

A Table for Two

Dave and I decided a couple of weeks ago that Savannah needed her own little kid table. That way she could sit and color, play, eat, or do whatever at her own little table without any worries of making a mess on our white kitchen table. So, yesterday I found one advertised for only $20 at Aldi foods. We purchased it and were going to wait to Christmas to give it to her. However, she was so intrigued by the box and I was so afraid she was going to pull it over on herself that I opened it and let her try it out this morning. I have to say that she LOVES it. Here is a picture of her with a bunch of my spices that she pulled out of the pantry and some pineapple. Notice the security bib that she put on herself, backwards. I'm not sure if she was pretending to cook, have a tea party, or just making her usual mess. Either way, it kept her entertained until it was time for aerobics! What a great purchase!!

Weekend Recap

Although the weekend didn't exactly start well with Savannah up from 1am - 3am Saturday morning (TEETHING AGAIN), it has turned out to be a great few days!! With the Christmas shopping and wrapping done and the cards on order, we have enjoyed a few days where we could relax, catch up on some tasks around the house, and spend some quality time with each other. Once we all woke up Saturday Dave volunteered to take Savannah to Charlotte at Play. Oh how I treasured a few hours all to myself! They had a blast and so did I. Today has been great too as we enjoyed church and Sunday school this morning without being paged to pick up Savannah early. What a relief to find her playing happily when we picked her up. I guess this is all part of her new "schedule".

We are still trying to figure out what works best for her little body in terms of a schedule. I no longer have my 7-7 baby as of a few weeks ago and the past week has been a nightmare with trying to get her to take a nap and go to bed at a decent hour. However, for some reason, this weekend she seems to have settled into a routine of getting up around 6:30am, taking a longer nap later in the afternoon, and going to bed much later at 8:30pm. Although I am going to miss my time with Dave from 7pm on, we're willing to sacrifice this time if it helps Savannah to be less fussy at night. It's a struggle to keep her up until 1 or 2 in the afternoon before retiring for a nap, but boy has it made a difference in her overall attitude this weekend. We'll see how things go this week . . .

Is TV Really That Bad for Kids?

For the past few days since Savannah has been so gassy and ill I've allowed her to watch an enormous amount of television as it is the ONLY thing that has seemed to settle her. Well, now she's waking up and demanding in her own little way to watch the "T" as she calls it. So now she's becoming spoiled to watching it when she wants. I know that if I could keep her entertained more, then we wouldn't have the need for television, but on cold days when she's sick, what else am I to do?

Take today for example. I still haven't worked out or had a shower and the to do list is growing. I've cleaned up crushed cheerios twice and also resorted my coupons as she dumped my organizer onto the floor. (For those of you that know me well, this was crossing the line . . . no one touches the coupons, even a cute chubby cheeked baby!) The bottom line is that if she isn't sitting quietly in front of the TV how am I to get anything done?? So, I'm looking for some comments on your opinions of TV. After all, we all watched it and turned out okay, right?!

Loving the Cuddling

Just when I thought Savannah was all well from the runny nose, cough, and pink eye, she came down with yet another bug this weekend. On Sunday we were paged out of Sunday school to be told that Savannah had thrown up in the nursery. Yuck! That was the last time that she threw up, but she definitely hasn't been feeling well. No appetite and being extremely fussy have characterized most of her waking hours since Sunday. Her stomach must be in some serious pain as she is very, very gassy too!! Plus, she is refusing to take naps and go to bed without a struggle now.

This has been an adjustment for me as our routine up until now has been one of drop and run, where she just settles on her own and goes to sleep without help. The only thing that seems to work to get her to sleep now is rocking her and lightly rubbing her forehead until she's asleep in my arms. Although it takes much more time and patience to get her to go to sleep, I must say that I am LOVING the snugly time spent rocking her to sleep. She just nestles right in under my chin with her bib up to her face and after about 2 songs on the Praise Baby CD she's sound asleep. Last night I even fell asleep with her and woke when my kid knocked on the front door for tutoring! I'm so thankful for this precious time with Savannah as one day I know she will be much too big to rock to sleep.